Wear-compensating means for rail joints



Jan. 25,1927. 1,615,500

V. C. ARMSTRONG 1 WEAR COMPENSATING MEANS FOR RAIL JOINTS Filed Oct. 8, 1926 Vista} (7. firm-sire Patented Jan. 25, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VICTOR C. ARMSTRONG, OF HACKENSACK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE RAIL 3' DIN 1,

COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

wnan-comrnnsa'rme means FOR BAIL JOINTS.

Application filed October a, 1926. Serial in); 140,332.

This invention relates to an improvement in rail joint construction and more particularly to novel means for reclaiming old or worn rail joints whereby rail oint bars which have become worn by the working of the rail in the joint, and which otherwise are sufficiently strong to 'meet requirements of use can be made re -usable in connection with either old rails .or new rails.

his well known that the wear in a rail joint is greatest atand adjacent-the. ends of the rails due to contraction and expansion of the rails and also to the motion of the rail under varying speed and load conditions. The eifect of these forces, acting within the joint, is to wear down the head of the bar.

and produce an u standing burr, fin, or wall of metal at and-. etween the'rail ends. At the same time the hammering down otthe rail ends results in wear at the undersldes and bottom corners of the rail heads at their ends, and it is these conditions that the present invention is intended to meet.

Accordingly, a primary object of the 1nvention is to provide novel and economicalmeans for restoring worn rail joint bars in a manner that will cause the same to function, particularly at the medial or center part of the joint to compensate for wear at the top of the bar as-well asat the underside of the rail heads at the ends of the rail. That is to say, the present invention aims to provide a novel shim construction which permits of fitting the same in place without the necessity of removing the burr or fin at the medial portion of the bar, which otherwise would have to be done at considerable cost in time and labor. With the present construction it is only necessary to partially loosen the joint bolts and insert the two shims with the thickest parts facing each other on opposite sides of the burr, or fin,

and then draw the bolts up tight to complete the repair operation.

Withthe above and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which 2-- Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating the application of the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the joint of a pair ings as A The said bearing members or shims are made preferably of steel capable of standin the pressure and wear of service, and eac of these shims is adapted to be placed or inserted, after the loosening of the bolts, be-

tween the head of the bar B and the underside of the rail head at and contiguous to the end of the rails R so that the pair of shims will occupy the central or medial part of the rail joint. Each shim is preferably of angle formation having an apron part 1 lying between the inner side of the joint bar and the rail weband the upper flange part 2 which lies between the head of the bar and the underside of the rail head.

A distinctive feature of each of the bearing members or shim construction is that each of such members or-shims is of tapering thickness one way, that is, in the direction of its length, so that the thickest part of the said member or shim is nearest the center of the joint where there is most wear in the head of the bar and the underside of the head of the rail end while the thinner part of the bearing member or shim is in the direction of the outer boltsof the joint where there is less wear so that when these outer bolts are tightened the ends of the bars are tightly flexed or drawn inward so that the ends of the bar will take a firm fishing engagement with the underside of the rail head and the upper side of the rail flange.

By reason ofthe employmeiit of a pair of bearing members or shims the upstanding burr or fin of metal at the head of the bar, designated by the reference numeral X is ter of the joint.

avoided and does not have to be trimmed, ground, or hammered down to permit of the re-use of the bar on an old or new rail with shims of the kind described. In that way considerable economy is effected in the installation of the present shims, and furthermore the arrangement permits of the use of shims of difi'erent thickness if desired at each side of the meeting ends of the rails to meet a case of unequal wear. For example, if it is found that wear under one rail head is greater than the other due to heavier traftie in one direction, a shim of greater thickness at its end nearest the joint may be used in combination with a thinner shim at the other side. The arrangement set forth permits of a wide range of practical combina: tions for repairing the worn bar head and underside of the rails with a minimum of labor and expense.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be. resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the.

appended claims.

I claim 1. A wear compensating means for rail joints comprising a pair of separate metallic shiin members, each progressively thickened 1n the direction of its length toward the cen- A wear compensating means for rail oints'comprlsing a pair of separate metallic shim members, each tapering in thickness toward one end, and the thickened ends adapted to be placed adjacent each other between the underside of a rail head and the upper edge-of'a joint bar.

3. i wear compensating means for rail joints comprising a pair of separate metallic shim members, each member consisting of an angular section tapering in thickness toward one end and adapted to be positioned between the underside of the head of a rail end and the upper side of a joint bar.

4. A wear compensating means for rail joints consisting of separate metallic shim members of angular cross section and each tapering in thickness toward one end, and the thickened ends of said members being adapted to be disposed toward each other and spaced apart beneath the ends of adjacent rail heads and above the upper edge of the joint bar.

5. A wear compensating means for rail joints consisting of separate renewable and interchangeable metallic shim members of angular cross section, each of said members consisting of a body tapering in thickness toward one end.

6. A shim for Worn rail joints comprising a body of angular cross section progressively thickened from one end toward the other,

providing an enlarged'end adapted to fill the worn portions between the underside of the rail head and the joint bar. In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

VICTOR. C. ARMSTRONG. 

